Note 12 — HABITAT

Both the routes were traversed by the expedition of 1895, the former from the headwaters of Rio Bacuache to the upper portion of its alluvial fan, and then from the abandoned Rancho Libertad on the lower portion of the fan across Desierto Encinas by way of Barranca Salina. In the northern crossing a light vehicle (the first to traverse this portion of the desert), drawn by four horses and aided by several horsemen, was taken from Rancho Libertad across the northern portion of Playa Noriega and thence up Arroyo Mitchell to a point midway between Barranca Salina and Johnson peak, and was brought back over the same route. The Encinas trail from Rancho San Francisco de Costa Rica was traversed four times each way by the same outfit, and once each way by the running gear of a heavy wagon carrying the rude craft (about 1,000 pounds in weight) in which the Seri waters were navigated, this vehicle being drawn by 8 to 12 horses, frequently changed. Typical aspects of both routes are shown in plate III, the upper figure representing the Encinas trail and the lower a distant view of Sierra Seri, taken from Playa Noriega, in the depths of Desierto Encinas.